Rima's X chara
by Aquatwin
Summary: Rima can't take it anymore,she thoroughly believes that she shouldn't be alive and that causes KusuKusu to turn back into an X egg, but not before running to Nagi for help. DISCONTINUED
1. Clowns tears

**Aquatwin: Oh my, this is short starter chapter...but I wanted to write a fighting action painful drama and it was done in a sort of hurry, so sorry if it's not as good as it could be...**

**Rima: why is it I'm practically emo in here?**

**Aquatwin: That is to be revealed later! Now shhh...don't ruin it for the readers! **

**Nagi: Um....I guess I have to do disclaimer. Shugo chara belongs to peach pitt**

**Aquatwin: BUT THE IDEA OF X-KUSUKUSU AND NOOSE DROP BELONG TO ME!**

**Crystal: The numbers in parenthesese mean go to bottom and match with numbers. Enjoy! *wink***

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_KusuKusu's Pov _

Rima was in her ball position again. My funny-faces didn't work. Not at all.

Just sitting there on her head wasn't helping much either, but I think being her guardian character, I know that it was enough for her to at least know I was here.

Why did her parents have to dump this on her? Sometimes I honestly wished they could see me so I could pull _their_ faces into funny faces (and if its not your own doing, it tends to hurt).

"KusuKusu, it's useless..." Rima muttered. A pain sliced through me. Oh no! RIMA NO!

I zipped to her face. "Rima, no, no! it's not useless!" I squeaked.

"They won't laugh. They'll never smile. If it weren't for me..." Her eyes that glistened with tears looked up and stared at me. They looked like they belonged on a corpse. My insides were burning now.

"Rima, you're not useless, please, don't give up hope!" I screamed in her face, tears pricking my chibi eyes. She won't listen!! I looked hurriedly from side to side. I had to hurry...before....before....

I know!!!

I took one last glance at Rima. Another dagger to the heart that made me give out a yelp. I had to hurry. I had to find him. He was the only one that could help!

Flying as fast as I could, I zoomed in the direction where I sensed his shugo chara.

_Nagi's PoV_

"Alright Nagi!" Rythem gave me a thumbs up. I smiled as the basketball rolled back to my feet.I bent down and picked it up.

"Okay, Rythem, I have to get home for dance practice or else mother will be ticked." I told him. He pouted. Then he seemed to notice something out of the corner of his eye.

"KusuKusu?" He whispered. My head whipped to the side. Sure enough, the clown chara was flying faster than I thought possible. She rammed into Rythem and grasped his clothes.

"Woah, KusuKusu, whats up?" He asked, genuinely caring. I was anxious (and not in the good way) becase Rima wasn't even close to her. And the look of distress on her Chara's face was enough to give me a heart attack.

"Its....it's rima!" She panted. My eyes widened. KusuKusu screeched in pain. Oh no, not good!

"KusuKusu...why...why does your prescence feel like an....an..." Rythem gulped. What?!?!

"An X-egg...." He muttered quietly. The basketball in my hand dropped to the ground.

"What's wrong with Rima?!!?" I yelled. KusuKusu looked to me, tears in her normally bright eyes.

"Nagi! You have to....have to help her!" She gasped, beads of sweat falling down her forehead. It must be takeing a lot out of the oranged hair chibi just to be floating there.

"Anything! Just tell me where she is!!!" I demanded. She looked like she was gradually fading.

"Royal Garden!!! Sh...she's losing faith in laughter! In happiness!!! In life! in.....in...." The 2 halves of her egg appeared above and below her, starting to close. I clenched my fists.

"KUSUKUSU!" Rythem screeched, lunging for the egg. It snapped shut before he got the chance. Anger and worry boiled deep in my stomach. There was no way I would let this happen to Rima!!!

The egg that had been kusukusu floated up above our heads and an X flashed across it. "Useless...." Rima's soft voice said emotionally, doubled with KusuKusu's whom shared the same tone. The egg flew off in the direction of the Royal Garden.

I clenched my fists. "RYTHEM!" I hollered. He turned to me with determination in his eyes.

"ON IT!" The familar blue wings appeared on my shoes. I bent my legs and jumped with all my strength. Soaring up in the sky, I was higher than I had ever jumped before. That didn't matter though, all that mattered in my mind at that moment was saving Rima.

We decended to the ground in front of the royal garden. I distinctly saw the back of Rima's blonde little head standing at the entrance to the garden. I was half hoping that KusuKusu had gone back to normal.

"Rima-chan?" I stuttered.

Her soft voice responded, emotionlessly and almost dead. "They don't care...."

I took a tentative step forward. "Rima-chan?" I tried to make my voice assertive, but I failed. I couldn't help it, I was...I was scared for Rima.

"No one cares. No one ever cares." Her voice became louder. She was starting to sound angry. She turned around to face me....

And her normally annoyed eyes that always greet me were nothing but a void of darkness. Those eyes froze me right to the spot. No, this can't be. Please let this be a nightmare. My Rima was not a victim of owning an X-egg. PLEASE WAKE ME UP!

"They'll never laugh, nagihiko." She whispered, even with her empty and emotionless eyes, her eyebrows creased together in anger. "They won't laugh because they don't love each other and they don't love me." Her voice was gradually growing.

"Rima-chan, that's not...." I started to say, but she stomped her foot.

"THEY WOULD STILL LOVE EACH OTHER IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME! THEY'D BE LAUGHING!! I'M SO...I'M SO....." She hollered, eyes squeezed shut, shaking her head from side to side, tears flying out. KusuKusu's now X-egg floated up behind her. It cracked open. Oh no.....

"USELESS!!" She screamed, falling to the ground, clenching her head in what looked like pain.

"RIMA!!" I screamed, finally coming to my senses. I started to run forward, but the X-chara that used to be KusuKusu floated up between us.

Rythem gasped.

This character couldn't be KusuKusu. It had dark blood red hair pulled up into a braid, lifeless dark brown eyes, the symbols went from a green tear drop and star to a red skull and bat that were placed on pale skin. Her hat was still there, but it was white and black striped with an X on the end where the green ball should've been. Her clown jumpsuit was changed into what looked like a black ballerina dress, white gloves and white boots. (**1**)

I heard Rythem mutter disbelieving "KusuKusu..."

I looked over to Rima who was still clenching her head. "They don't love each other because of me. All because of me!" She screeched, tears sprinkling the concrete beneath her. I made a move to go forward again, but a rope like Rima used for tightrope dancer flew at me and I had to dodge it. Thank goodness I still had the wings on my shoes.

I flipped my hair out of my eyes and looked up at X-KusuKusu from where I was on the ground. She was holding either arm out, controling the glowing purple ropes.

Rima stood up, and looked over to me. Her eyes didn't change, still no emotion. Her eye-brows creased once more, then she gestured for KusuKusu to come over. The ropes flew back, barely missing my head by not even a centimeter a making a snap noise past my ear. Then she said dreaded words I hoped would've never happened.

"Watashi Korkoro no: Unlock." She whispered. NO!!!

Dark puple light surrounded her. She yelped out "Chara Nari: Noose Drop"(**2**) and floated to the ground. And....wow.

Her hair held a black bow with a giant white X in the center of the bow's tie, and it held up her long braided hair. She wore a black corset top with white ribbons streaking across her back (in X's), and a black frilly tutu that stopped way to short, just above her thighs. She also wore lacey black leggings and lacey white gloves that reached up to her shoulders, her shoes were the same as clown drops except they were black with white X's the ends. And her frilly collar around her neck was still the same. (**3**)

If it weren't for the situation, I would've said....well....she looked hawt.

She looked at me with her lifeless eyes. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. Her eyes started to swallow me. A sea of dark brown. My head felt hollow and light.

I heard a distant voice call my name, but I couldn't decipher whose voice it was. I felt something around my neck, pulling me forward.

My insides started to burn, flaming my veins. My heart pounded rapidly, the brown starting to choke me out. Then the brown was replaced with something else....

A normal Rima sat on the ground, in a ball. Her sobs racked her whole entire body. I wanted to go to her. To comfort her. A stabbing pain went through my heart just seeing her cry. Then she pulled out something in her fist. It glinted in the dark room...

A dagger. My blood ran cold at the sight of it.

She hiccupped and drew the daggar back. "I have to end this" She murmered. She started to bring the daggar back at full force toward her chest. No...

"RIMA!!" I screamed. I sat up straight. I was in the royal garden still, on the ground next to the flower-bed. The royal garden was bright now, before it had been sunset.

"Hey dude." Rythem said in a sad tone, sitting on the ground next to me. That was rare....chara's don't normally reduce themselve to sitting on the ground.

"Wh-what happened? Where'd Rima go?" I asked, abruptly standing up. And instantly regretting it as a headache pounded at my head. I groaned.

"You mean Noose drop?" Rythem spoke in disgust. "Don't worry about your mom, I managed to call Kukai and told him you had an emergency and you needed him to cover. The phone went dead before I could explain the whole ordeal." He spoke, ignoring my question. He was wearing the saddest expression I've ever seen him wear.

"Thanks. But you didn't tell me what happened to Rima." I sighed, sitting down on the ground next to him.

"She somehow hypnotized you and managed to cut off your breath with this attack called tightrope death. After slapping me away, she dragged you into here, kissed your forehead and whispered something along the lines of 'sweet nightmares, feel the pain I feel', and then flew off." He said all the while fingering his hat he had taken off. He was as depressed as I was.

I gingerly touched my forehead. I don't think she even knew the nightmare she gave me. "We have to find her and snap her out of the depression." I mumbled. Rythem gave a dark laugh.

"Dude, _we're_ in a depression. I'm your chara, I know e_xactly _what your feeling." He said with a tone that somehow implied sick twisted humor.

I looked to him. "What am I feeling then?" I asked him. I honestly didn't know myself.

He looked up at me with sad eyes. "We've just lost the girls we love, dude. And we might not be able to find them again."

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**(1)-Pic soon to be on my dA**

**(2)- Noose=the slip not you put around peoples necks when you hang them [gruesome, I know]**

**(3)- Again, pic soon to be on my dA**

**Aquatwin: BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUUM!**

**Rima: Again, E-M-O! This is so pessimistic.**

**Aquatwin: And I'm the most optmistic person you'd meet in real life, actually *sweat drop***

**Crystal: She writes stories like these because it's fun, not because she hates life. She really actually loves life!**

**Aquatwin: But this was rushed, and I started it like this to keep people guessing what happened to Rima (although you might have a pretty good idea already...) to get so depressed that Kusu turns into an X-chara. Ah, again I feel like this might be OOC.**

**KusuKusu: My PoV was used! YAY!**

**Aquatwin: Anywho, please _read and review,_ and if you'd like, you can give suggestions on how to make this better! Next chapter'll come after I update "Just the girl Nagi's looking for"**

**Nagi: *says sarcastically* Oh joy**

**Signed, **

Bonnie


	2. He's in love

_**Aquatwin:**_** Dramatic story I'm writing here, and I honestly don't think this story has as much a hook as it should**

**Rima: I'm not even in this chapter! And the title of the story is about me! *mumbles* And didn't you say you would update Just the girl Nagi's looking for before you'd update this?**

**Aquatwin: *sweatdrop* Sidetracked, my bad. Plus it's hard to get lyrics to fit in with a story! **

**Crystal: While they argue, KusuKusu shall give disclaimer!**

**KusuKusu: Shugo chara belongs to Peach pitt *giggle* and Emo me and Rima belong to Aquatwin (Aquatwin: NOT EMO!)**

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_Kukai's PoV_

Daichi was out, gathering all the chara's and guardians. Rythem had called earlier that morning (which, how in the world does a chara go dialing a phone?), and I had to call Nagi's demon mother and tell her that he had crashed at my house after one of my brothers accidentally hit him in the head with a football (believeable enough). She had agreed, somewhat unwillingly, and now we were trying to figure out what had happened. This is basically how me and Rythem's conversatoin had went:

"Yo, new Jack, what's up?" I had greeted.

_"This isn't Nagi, dude, it's Rythem. Listen, I need you to call Nagi's mom and cover for Nagihiko."_

"Why, what's up?"

_"It's X-egg trouble at the royal garden, dude, Ri-" _And then the line went dead.

Assuming the obvious relationship between the new Jack and the (new) Queen's chair, I was pretty sure it dealt with trouble with Nagi, Rima and X-eggs. They probably were on a secret date (or so, that's what Utau thinks is going on between them, and I really can't disagree, it does seem a lot like it) and got cornered by X-eggs or something.

Still, it was early in the morning, and this did seem unlikely that was the case. Grabbing my uniform jacket and back-pack, I ran out of my house, shouting good-byes to all 5 of my brothers. After running a couple minutes, I was at the cross-road with the rest of the guardians (minus Nagi and Rima) all huffing and puffing on their knees. Seriously, these people need exercise.

"Kukai, what's...the big deal?" Amu wheezed hunched over her knees. "Daichi came in, shouted at us...to hurry to school....for some guardian emergency with X-eggs and left...without explaining." Suu and Miki were on her shoulders, huffing as much as she was.

Yaya, whom had recovered by whipping out a chocolate bar (she better have really low blood sugar or else she's going to be getting diabetes), looked at all of us. "Hey, where's Nagi-kun and Rima-chii?"

Tadase and Amu finally took notice to this. All I had to do was cock a hip and their eyes all widened. We all took off to the school. Hopefully we weren't too late.

_Nagi's PoV_

I stared at my chara. What....?

"l-love?" I stuttered. He sighed and fell onto his back.

"Yes, **baka**." He stated. This wasn't at all like Rythem. He's normally so easy-going. Impulsive and annoying, yes, but normally so happy and 'cool'.

_"We've just lost the girls we love, dude-"_

Oh yeah, Kusukusu was gone as well. I sighed. I loved Rima? Well, I was protective of her, and I did want to be her friend. And she was cute, like a doll with her wavy blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, her beautiful lau-

Alright, I have to face it, I'm in love.

This is most deffinetly one of the worse times to have that realization.

Clenching my fists I growled "We will be able to find them." Rythem gave an exasperated sigh.

"Dude, how? They're X-girls now." He sounded so broken down.

"Rythem, for christs sakes, if we're down, then theres no hope in finding them!" I shouted, standing up and glaring at my chara. A look of determination flashed through his own eyes.

"RIGHT!!" He screamed, zipping up to my face. I almost sweat-dropped at such a sudden emotion change. He was a real tsundere(**1**) sometimes. But at least he finally snapped out of it.

All at once, the guardians burst through the doors. They all looked furiously from side to side. I placed a hand on my hip and glared at them, Rima-style (which, le' me tell you, is scary). I immediatly regretted thinking that. Great, go and make yourself depressed again.

"Well, you guys are late in coming." I told them. If they were in some manga, I would see the question marks flashing above their heads.

"Hey, where's the queen?" Kukai spoke up. My palms must've been receiving crecent shape marks from how hard I was clenching my fists to keep from breaking down.

A deppressed sigh escaped from my mouth.

"KusuKusu turned into...." Rythem said solemnly, floating to rest on my head.

"An X-egg." I finished for him.

"WHAT?!?!" Everyone screamed. All I could do was nod my head.

Time to explain.

-------

"YAYA CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" She screamed, tears streaking down her cheeks as she slammed her fists onto the table.

I was just sitting there, my chin resting on my fist. After re-telling the story, I was ready to bawl myself, but what would that do? Absolutly nothing at this point.

Kukai, who was trying to comfort a crying Amu being like her older brother, looked to me. "But why did KusuKusu come to get you of all people?" I shrugged.

All the chara's were trying to get Rythem to perk up. Wasn't working.

Dia floated up to my side and pat my shoulder. I gave her a sad smile.

"Guardians!!" Rikka squealed, running into the guardian. She stopped short seeing the sad scene among us.

"Wh-whats wrong?" She stuttered. Tadase, somehow the most collected out of all of us, explained the whole ordeal in less detail to her. She widened her eyes.

I thought she'd cry like yaya or Amu, but she did something surprising.

"I think I might be able to find her!!!" She squeeled. The whole group gave her confused looks.

I stood up as fast as possible and gave her a stern look. "You serious?" I asked her, dead serious. She nodded her head so fast I thought it would whip off.

"If I can talk to X-eggs, I'm sure I can find an X-character!" She explained. I felt hopeful. "But it would be easier to find her if we can figure out what got her so depressed, that way I can pick out which voice is KusuKusu's." She added.

I started in a rushed walk out the door. "Where are you going fujisaki-kun?!" Tadase yelled. I cast a glance over my shoulder.

"Going to save the girl I love best I can." I answered, then ran out the door with Rythem not lagging far behind. I'll be missing school, but who cares.

I will find out what happened to Rima and I WILL save her.

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**Aquatwin: I'm so tempted to go AWWWW, but cliche stuff annoys to me heck and it annoys me more that that is what it sounds like**

**Nagi: At least I don't embarrass myself in here!**

**Aquatwin: *evil aura* But that's what my other fanfic is for *evil laugh***

**Rythem: Since Aquatwin is going demon-chick on us, I guess I shall say R&R. If you do, Bonnie might make Nagi go shirtless one chapter!**

**Aquatwin: (pfft, only Rythem would say that...) and next chappy'll be Noose drop's PoV!!! **


	3. Breaking and Entering

_**Aquatwin: sorry**_** for hte terribly long wait, being lazy, but I also have icky exams and 8th grade week was recently.**

**Rima: So you've been goofing off instead of writing?**

**Aquatwin: I said I also have exams!**

**Anywho, this chappy might seem a little weird, it feels like a filler to me, but it is VITAL to the story, do understand that. And P.S, last chappy, I used Rikka, but to be honest, I havent' seen the episodes with her yet, so I wouldn't know how her personality is besides the fan-fics, so please forgive me for the soon-to-come possible OOC-ness of rikka in later chapters.**

**Nagi: Shugo chara belongs to peach pitt, and the concept of Noose-drop, X-KusuKusu and Rima's n-**

**Aquawtin: THAT'S A SPOILER DUDE!**

**Nagi: *sweat drop* well, those belongs to aquatwin**

**X-KusuKusu: *monotone voice* Enjoy**

_Noose Drop's PoV_ (**A//n: Rima: Emo me in other words? Aquatwin: NOT EMO! AND NO A//N'S!)**

Who am I?

I'm Mashiro Rima.

Why am I alive?

I don't know.

Do I deserve to be alive?

Not at all.

Everything has looked....duller lately. Oh yeah, because I've found out that laughing is useless. That life is useless.

That love is just...useless.

I remembered Nagihiko's face, his eyes going dull as he stared at mine. He could never understand the pain I'm feeling. The tears I've shed. Well, maybe he can now that I drew out one of his deepest darkest fears from the crevices of my mind. I had no idea what it was.

But I could care less.

KusuKusu....excuse me, X-kusukusu I mean, floated next to my shoulder, braiding my hair. We were on top of a brick building, my legs dangling over the ledge. I looked at my hands, scrunching my eyebrows together.

I couldn't use my own hands. Not only were they to small, but it just wouldn't work.

No, it had to be the people who I caused pain for it to truly be a release. Let's see....

There was Mama and Papa. No, they wouldn't listen.

There were my fanboys who I dumped. Nah, they'd try to talk me out of it.

There was...Nagihiko.

Yes, Nagihiko. The boy who I caused so much pain daily. The boy who no matter how many times he was nice to me, I gave him ice.

Perfect, I needed my love removed by someone who hated me, but I truly loved.

Nagihiko would be the perfect person to kill me.

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Nagi's Pov

_thunk. thunk. thunk._

All I heard was my feet stamping on the pavement. Blindly running where I knew Rima's house was, because my own thoughts were to preoccupied by one girl and one girl alone.

Rima, Rima, Rima, RIMA!

It was taking every ounce of my strength not to let the tears in the corner of my eyes to fall or to punch the nearest pedestrian. And trust me, I was really tempted to do that. I was beyond angry. Whoever did this to Rima, whoever caused her to become so depressed....

They will pay.

I skidded to a halt in front of Rima's house, just barely flipping over the fence.

That would've been incredibly funny if it weren't for the fact of how serious the situation was. I jumped over the fence, not even giving myself a second to recompose myself, and dashed to the front door. Every second mattered right now, because the longer I waited,I know the longer it'll take to find Rima. I grasped the door knob Rythem spoke up before I tried to yank it open.

"Dude, what if her parents are home?" Rythem pointed out. I paused.....

Who would've thought that Rythem would be the one using logic in this type of situation?

I looked at the driveway. No cars. Check. I glanced into the house through the window on the door. The TV wasn't on, and with my acute hearing (thanks to having to listen to stage whisperes from dancing) I could gather there was no one moving in the house.

But there was an eerie silence draped over the household.

I crouched down and took out a paperclip from my jacket pocket. Having stopped for at least a moment, thanks to rythem, I realized that the door was most likely locked. I jiggled it around, then heard the distinct _click._

Swinging the door open, not even caring or considering that I might go to jail for breaking and entering, my eyes scanned the area. There were some bits and pieces of broken glass on the floor, just barely dusting the ground, but still clearly there. It felt like there had been something dangerous that recently occured in the room.

"Dude, is it just me, or do you feel like something isn't right at all?" Rythem muttered, sounding scared to interupt the silence. I nodded.

But this didn't matter, I had to find Rima's room, I had to find out why everything went wrong.

I ignored the weird aura surround the house and dashed as fast as my feet would allow me to go up the stairs. I could care less how loud my feet reverberated through the house. I had to find Rima's room....

I skidded in front of a door that was a ajar, almost off the hinges. Rythem floated in, lucky chara, un-affected by my various times of falling. (My mind was kind of somewhere else, to be fair)

Closer examination showed that it had been slammed open. How did I know this was rima's room? Well, the posters that littered the walls filled with comedians was kind of a dead give away. But half of them had been ripped off. Rythem floated over to a basket that looked like it was made specially to carry KusuKusu's egg. He floated down to it and picked at the threads of the basket. I didn't bother him, let him suffer how he likes. I was going to find some way to find Rima.

I crouched down and picked up one of the posters she had torn down. It was ripped in half, wrinkles across the paper where tears must've sprinkled it. I bit my lip. No, this didn't give me a clue...

Standing up, my eyes skimmed over the room. A desk, a bed, a dresser, a closet, and a bookshelf. Without the posters, the room almost looked standard. Well, except for the fact that the bookshelf contained gag mangas, and half of them had been knocked to the ground, some with pages ripped out. I recognized the ones with the pages ripped out were some of her faveorites. She must've been upset to of done that.

Forgetting the fact that she'd kill me if....no, _when_(I refused to believe that she would never return to her normal self) she got to back to normal, I opened the drawers of her desk. I don't know whether or not it was a good thing Rythem didn't make any snarky, inappropriate comments on my searching. I didn't find anything other than some photo albums and old homework.

I picked up a photograph of Rima as a child that was set on top of the desk. She was smiling, laughing. Her eye's sparkled, her blonde curls bouncing around. Looking at this picture only made me remember her tear-streaked face, dark emotionless eyes, the high pitch painful screams...

_CRASH!_

The picture broke in two as it made contact with the wall. I was clenching my fists tight, my eyes stinging. No...no I won't cry.

"Dude...?" Rythem asked shakily, seeing that I never did something so rash. I really, honestly....

Didn't give a damn what he thought right now.

I sat down on Rima's bed, rubbing my forehead with the palm of my hand. My breath was ragged as I trembled and struggled not to let myself cry. The sobs that wanted to burst out choked out anything I could possibly say. My attention was brought to something moving.

Something wiggled under the covers. Something small and.....

EGG-SHAPED?

Rythem noticed this and flew over. "Nagi...." He started. I nodded my head slowly. He looked up at me.

"Rima had another shugo chara egg before everything..." He said quietly. He gripped the covers, pulling it away tentatively and revealed the egg. "AND IT'S NOT AN X-EGG!" He hollered, jumping up and down excitedly. I sweat-dropped.

I gently picked up the egg and examined it. It was blue with a purple heart and similar pattern in the background to kusukusu's original egg. Stroking the egg, I smiled. She wasn't gone.

The egg shook in my hands at my touch. I jumped as it moved. Holy....

_"Love heals all wounds" _A voice spoke in the back of my head. I widened my eyes wider. I ended up dropping the egg, freaked out. Thank goodness that Rythem caught it.

"Geez, dude, don't kill Rima's chara!" Rythem said frantically. I couldn't help but let a smile crawl onto my face. She wasn't gone completely. She still had some hope somewhere deep inside.

I stared at the egg. Rima's second chara. It knew Rima, knew one of her dreams. It was the closest thing to her I had right now. And unless I was wrong, she must've 'gave birth' to the egg before she had lost faith in KusuKusu. It knew all I didn't.

"Do you know why Rima was so upset?" I whispered, thinking out-loud.

The egg shook up and down in a mock-nod.

"WAA!" Rythem and I both jumped back in shock and I ended up falling off the opposite side of Rima's bed. _Ow_

I scrambled back up and looked at the now floating heart-egg. It zipped over to Rima's desk. It turned to me, as if looking to me to come. It was....helping me? I stood up, walking over to the desk. It floated to one of the drawers and nudged it. I couldn't help but quirk a brow.

"I already checked the drawers." I told it. It kept nudging the drawer. I pulled it open and it floated in, pushing out a photo-album. I looked down at it skeptically, but it just nuzzled it again towards me. My fingers were trembling as I reached out and gripped it.

The egg tilted upward at me, as if looking to me to open it. With my still quivering hands, I shakily opened it up, knowing this might be the answer to why Rima was upset.

I was shocked at what I saw.

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**Aquatwin: I'm so mean, leaving a cliffy, but I want to leave the next part for next chapter!**

**Rima: What the heck is with my new chara?**

**Aquatwin: That is secret right now *wink* But if you're smart, you would take notice to the color-scheme of the egg**

**Read and review pwease, I love suggestions, ideas and critique (But be nice about it, I don't accept flames!)**

**Rythem: Yup, R&R!**


	4. Her Thoughts

**Aquatwin: Again, late in updating. I sort of wrote this in a hurry, trying to work while I still had inspiration. So it might sound a tad rushed and a bit short. But I think it came out pretty good. The rest of my un-needed author comments will be at the bottom so you don't have to bother with them if you dont' want to.**

* * *

_Nagi's PoV_

The room was silent as I looked at the photo album.

It was like a journal.

Pictures were there, for sure, but next to them were little notes, small summaries of the day. In the front was a picture of her family, and in chicken scratch handwriting, it read _"mama and papa and me on pictrue day." _The grammar was incorrect and she mispelled picture, so I was guessing it was from when she was younger.

I wasn't sure how this was going to help me.

"What does this...?" I started, but the egg nudged the book, gesturing me to flip through it.

I read each summary on the side of every picture. In the beggining, it was pretty basic, pictures of her and her family, tiny descriptions of the day of the picture scrawled out on the pages.

Then I came upon a newspaper clipping. Next to it, it read: _"Mama and papa fought today. Couldn't make them laugh. Police caught bad-man who stole me from them." _

I had heard that Rima had been kidnapped, but seeing this made it more...personal. On the page parralell to it there was a picture of KusuKusu. It read _"strange person named kusukusu comes out of egg that I found on my bed."_

I chuckled at her brief description of the cheerful chara. I flipped a little further, a picture of her first time chara-nari-ing, seeing later pictures of boxes and moving trucks, probably signaling the day she moved. And then one of her in her uniform, and she had scribbled a crown on the top of head, and she had wrote in bold letters _"Queen's chair in guardians."_

And then I came upon the pictures of the guardians. She had individual photo's of them all on a page from before I came. She described them in great detail of seat, chara, and personality. Some of it made me chuckle. I bit my lip, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. The egg was telling me that the reason why she was sad was in here.

But I stopped on the page where a photo of me and Rima glaring had been pasted in. On it she wrote "_Nagihiko Fujisaki: Jack's chair. Chara: currently none. Note: Do not trust him. Any boy with hair as long as mine seems pretty suspicious. Make sure he doesn't get too close with Amu." _

I sweat-dropped. So that's what she thought of me. Sighing in defeat, I continued forward, trying to find more. So what if I was only a threat to her. Didn't defeat the fact that I still was in love with her. That was until I came across a picture of me, and from the looks of it, it looked like it was from the day she made me take her to get a parfait. I was eating and looking off, and I hadn't even known she had taken a picture of me.

"_New info on current Jack's Chair: Cross-dresser, previously known as nadeshiko, Former Queen's chair."_ Did she really have to list that? _"Chara's: Rhythem, an unconditional flirt and jock."_ Rhythem, who was reading over my shoulder at this point, tried to protest. I waved him off. "_Temari: Traditional japanese female, kimono and all, has tempermental problems." _It's a good thing Temari wasn't here at the moment or she'd be slicing the page to bits. I chuckled.

"_Note: Is way too nice __and likeable__. Be careful around him." _

What did I just read?

Although she had scratched through it, I could still clearly read what that said. So she didn't hate me? I jumped as I heard the purple and blue egg distinctly, and clearly **giggling**.

A voice hummed in my head. "_go on."_ The egg gestured for me to flip further forward. I just nodded and felt the flimsy paper that had everything glued to it. I suddenly noticed that the paper was wrinkled like it had got wet.

Flipping to the next page, and I saw a picture of an open window.

My heart stopped. The writing looked like it was hurried and pressured.

"_My parents want to send me to boarding school. They told me they needed time to reconnect. They said that it was so that I wouldn't have to deal with such a harsh atmosphere or something._

_You liars._

_For anyone who is reading this, Rima mashiro is no longer here. She's run off. Tell mama and papa I'm sorry I ruined their lives. I'm sorry I was kidnapped. I'm sorry that my being here made them fight. I'm sorry that they had to deal with me. And I'm sorry they can't laugh or love anymore."_

I clenched the paper, tears finally falling. No. She was wrong. I was struggling to read further.

_"Any of my friends who read this, I'm sorry that you had to deal with my annoying self. I know that the comedy just annoyed you all. And I apoligize for that. I'm sorry to you Amu, I can't have my parents be depressed because of me. Don't cry when I'm gone, I don't deserve any of you're tears. You may think that I'm being stupid, but I'm not. So don't cry. Yes, that means even you Yaya. You all probably don't even care anyhow. All guardians, I know I was nothing but an Ice queen. But maybe it was for the best. Because laughter doesn't solve anything."_

No. Why does Rima think like this? I found the tears hitting the page. No no no!

_And if you're reading this, Nagihiko, I'm sorry for having hurt you. At least with me gone, you can be happy._

_**CRASH!**_

Breathing heavily, I looked at the now broken mirror hanging on the wall in the far corner. I walked forward with heavy steps and looked in the reflective surface. My reflection was cracked, like a puzzle board. The tears were choking me out. Even though I knew that boys shouldn't cry, I couldn't take one more minute of this. Of all people, it was Rima's parents who cause her to be this way. They had pushed her away instead of embracing her. If I had known how she felt...if I had known that she needed more than just Amu...

What? I would've tried harder to be her friend? I punched the mirror and I felt some glass pierce my skin, burning my veins. I deserved that. "I can't believe she thinks that." I muttered through my tears. I felt Rhythem rest on my shoulder, cautiously.

"What do you mean dude?" He whispered, tentatively. I didn't remove my eyes from my broken image of myself, tears falling down my cheeks.

"She never hurt me. Not until now." I sobbed, looking at the blood flowing down the mirror from my hand.

"C-could you find the first aid kit, Rhythem?" I choked. Hurting myself won't help Rima. I can save her. I have to. I felt him fly off my shoulder. My body trembled. Falling to my knees, the shattered glass brushed against my knees.

I sorted out everything in my head. She felt like she couldn't make her parents smile unless she was gone. The words of KusuKusu before she changed into an X-egg rang through my head.

"_Sh...she's losing faith in laughter! In happiness! In life! in...in..." _

Rima thought that laughing was useless. She thought her happiness meant nothing if it caused others sadness. But she was wrong about both things. Laughing was NOT useless, she wasn't causing anyone sadness. The only way she was was by being the one whose upset.

But what else was KusuKusu talking about?

I heard something rolling on the floor. Weakly, I turned my head to see Rima's yet-to-be named egg resting on the ground. It was the only bit of Rima that still had hope. With my un-bloodied hand, I picked up the egg and placed it in my coat pocket.

"NAGI! DUDE!" I heard Rhythem zipping into the room. He ran into the back of my head.

"oof!" I grunted, trying not to fall on the glass by placeing my hand out to steady myself (like an idiot), and just succeeding in hurting my hand further.

"Sorry dude, but we have to get going. Like NOW!" He yelled at me. He was floating in front of me, panting.

I opened my mouth to ask why, when I heard it.

"Rima? Shouldn't you be at school?" A female voice yelled from downstairs.

Oh crap.

* * *

**Aquatwin: And for those of you who are curious and can't wait for an explanation in next chapter: When Amu had found out about Rima being missing, before school had started, she had called Rima's parents to tell them (lie) that Rima had slept over at her house the night before, after falling asleep studying. You'll hear about that next chapter, but neh, I know some of ya'll are impatient and will ask me if I don't explain**

**Rima: Again, there's lack of me in this chapter and the title has MY name!**

**Aquatwin: Well technically, it's Rima's X CHARA, but I left it at a cliff hanger and needed to work from that. it's odd because I just went in a circle, going straight into yet another cliff hanger.**

**Crystal: It's awfully short. **

**aquatwin: =.= You're my chara, be on MY side.**

**Crystal: Oh, right. R&R!**


	5. Reasons

**Aquatwin: Here is the story. Warnin', at the end of the chapter, I rant! (altho its a good good message!)**

**I APOLIGIZE IF RIKKA IS OOC! I NEVER WATCHED THE EPISODES WITH HER!**

**And by the way, sorry if this is a crappy chapter, I've been holding this off for too long and didn't edit it enough ^^; I'm sorry**

_Nagi's PoV_

Crap! If I didn't get out of here, I was going to be in for it. Rima's mom would probably call the police. And a police interrogation wouldn't go over well in the least. I mean, it's not like I could just say _"oh, I was looking for some clue as to why the love of my life has lost faith in her dream!"_

Oh yeah, that would just go over _great_ with the police. (If I wanted to end up in a padded room with my arms forced around myself)

Scrambling to my feet, I frantically observed the damage. Along with the mess rima had caused before, I was leaving a lot of broken glass and blood stains.

Stomping could be heard on the stairs. "Rima, what are you doing? Not coming home last night to sleep over at that amu's and now skipping school?" Her mothers voice pierced through the silence of the house. I had to run. Get out. There was no time to clean up the chaos I was leaving.

I silently sped across the floor, thanking kami-sama for once that I've taken traditional kabuki dance since I was 2. My eyes caught sight of the photo album. Without a second thought, I grasped the diary of sorts and jumped out the open window, my gut practically flying up to my throat as gravity pushed me towards the ground below.

Luckily, the wings on my shoes and wrists had appeared a second later, leaving me suspended in thin air under the windows ledge. I mentally thanked Rhythem for chara-changing not a moment too soon. He hovered next to my shoulder, glancing back anxiously.

The foot-steps came to a halt in the house. "Rim- what?" I bit my lip, listening to the woman inside, listening for the perfect moment to run off without her noticing.

The sound of crunching glass reached my ears. "wh-wha-Rima dear? Are you there?" I could hear her voice cracking and trembling. I wanted to feel bad for her, but I couldn't. She and her husband caused their own _daughter _to turn into an X-girl. They didn't deserve to even say her name.

Holding my breath, praying she didn't look out the window (how the hell do I explain floating in thin air?), I was caught off guard by the sudden sound of sobbing. It floated through the air, choppy and broken. My curiousity got the best of me, causing me to peak over the ledge. There, in the middle of the a room, was a middle aged woman with short grayish-brown hair, keeled over on the ground, crying.

She started muttering to herself. "N-no...not again. Pl-please not again. R-rima is s-safely at school..." I wish, . "i-it was just a break-in. Y-yes, a-and the robb..."She started gagging on some of her own tears. "Th-the robbers had a fight and fled b-before I came home. Y-yes. That's what happened." I silently watched as this woman cried, it was heartbreaking. She thought that Rima had been kidnapped again. If Rima saw this scene, she might've actually figured out that her parents did care about her. That they wanted her to be happy, that they really just wanted her to stop having to hear them fight.

If only she had seen this before she ran off. I gripped at the book under my arm, trying to fight the burning sensation in the corner of my eyes and swallow the feeling of knives in my throat. 'If's` and 'but's` weren't going to do a thing now.

"Dude," Rhythem whispered. Although why, I don't know, since most adults can't see nor hear guardian characters. "We should get going. Like, _now_." Weakly, I nodded at my chara. I dropped to the ground and sprinted across the lawn, not looking back to check if Rima's mom had heard me or seen me. I couldn't take that chance. Not now. I held the photo album close to my side and kept my hand in my pocket to make sure that the egg wasn't damaged as I ran in the direction of school.

...

The Royal Garden seemed so horrific as I stepped in it, the memory of what happened last night still fresh in my mind like a newly cut wound. How could it be so bright when today was anything but? But it didn't matter where I went, somehow, something would remind me of Rima. It would taunt me until I found her and saved her.

It was apparently around break time, because all the guardians (even Kuukai) were sitting there, gathered around the table, talking in a rush. But everything stopped as I stepped inside. All of their eyes were trained on me.

I gave a little wave and a sad smile to the group. Then I heard them all gasp. "What happened?" Amu, Yaya, and Rikka yelled in unison. It was then that I noticed my bloodied knuckle. I gaped at the back of my hand, watching as the dark red-brown liquid that contrasted against my pale hands slithered its way downard. Some glass protruded from my hand, glistening in the light. And yet I barely noticed the pain. Like it was buried under all the saddness I was feeling.

Rhythem poked my shoulder and brought me back to reality. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the haze in my mind. Focus.

"No-nothing." I stuttered. Luckily, no one pushed further. They ushered me inside while Tadase got out the first aid kit. It was eerily quiet the whole time. While I was tending to my wound, they all just sat silently in their chairs, watching me. Even the chara's were quiet, giving equally duanting stares.

I sighed, picking up the big book in my hands and letting it fall to the glass surface. Immediatly their eyes snapped to Rima's diary. Before they could open their mouths and flood me with questions, I explained. "It's a sort of diary, it has pictures and notes .Rima...she...she wrote what looks like a...a suicide note in the most current entry." I was struggling to get the words out. They all gave some look of shock, but didn't say anything. They knew I had more to say. Everyone was absorbed in what I was saying, so I couldn't stop talking now. Even though saying it out loud just made it sting more.

"She lost KusuKusu because...because her parents were planning on sending her to boarding school away from here. So that Rima wouldn't have to deal with their arguments." I paused, taking in a shaky breathe. I ignored everyones stares, keeping my eyes fixed on my hand that was wrapped in the white bandages. Reminding myself of that puzzle piece image of my reflection back in Rima's room. That crying wouldn't help. "Rima didn-...doesn't think that was what they meant. She thought that they couldn't be happy with her there...s-she lost faith in laughter and i-in life..."

There was a silence that followed.

"what if she does it...?"

I looked up, Rikka's voice breaking the tension. She was poking at rima's 'diary', and everyone, even myself, was surprised that she was the one to speak up. She looked up at me, biting her lip, her eyes filled with the very saddness I felt. "What if she kills herself...I've never heard of an x-egg with a problem as bad as this. What if she goes through with it?"

'_she can't'_ A tinkleing voice sounded, somewhere in my mind. '_Because of you_'

Almost automatically, I reached into my blazer pocket, and gingerly, I placed the egg on the table. "She can't." Their eyes snapped to the egg. They all just gawked.

Standing up, I finally looked up at the group and stared at all of them, giving them a pensive look. "She can't kill herself. Not until she loses faith in the dream this egg was born from." They all looked so skeptical. I can't believe they were doubting it. "We will find her." I hissed. They exchanged some glances, something along the lines of _He's so blind _passing between one another_._ Even Rikka, Hikaru, and Yaya looked as if they had the same train of thought.

I couldn't take it. I slammed my hands on the table, making the egg jump a little. "Listen up." I seethed through clenched teeth, glaring at each of them individually. "Rima isn't just important to me. She's important to all of you. I know I'm not the only one who is hurting. If you aren't, how can you call yourself friends?"

Tadase was the one to speak up. "Fujisaki-san, it's not that, it's just...this isn't something that is that simple." He talked to me as if I were a child who just lost a toy.

I snarled. "We have saved thousands of X-eggs before. We have saved Utau and Ikuto from Easter. We even helped Hikaru find a way to smile. None of it was simple. It has **never. been. simple**. And if none of you are going to help me find Rima and purify KusuKusu..." I seized the purple and blue egg on the table and turned around. Lowly, I whispered more to me than the others, letting my bangs hide my eyes. "I'll save her myself." Taking a shaky step forward, I was ready to run out of there.

Until a hand on my shoulder stopped me. "We never said we wouldn't ."

I kept my eyes fixed forward. Her image just kept flashing through my mind, the picture on the desk shifting to the nightmare she had given me. I know I couldn't be the only one who was hurting.

"Nagihiko, you know that this is a lot for all of us to take in. And you're right. We **will** save her. But the best we can do right now is let Rikka listen for kusukusu." I looked to the side, refusing to meet his gaze, but listening. I felt his grip on my shoulder tighten. "We can't risk you doing something dangerous as well."

We just stood there for a moment, and no one dared to interupt the silence. I guess it only seemed fitting that they were worried for me. I wasn't exactly in any better shape than Rima, the only diffference that my eggs weren't X-eggs. But I can't help it. Rima didn't deserve to deal with any of this. She shouldn't be an X-girl. And if Rima really did die...

The bell rang in the school, signaling the end of the lunch period. I heard them shifting, and felt Kuukai's grip on my shoulder loosen.

"Tadase, tell Tsukasa that Nagihiko and Rikka are going to be doing guardian work today." Kukai ordered. I still couldn't bring myself to look up at everyone. The sounds of the chairs scraping against the floor signaled that they were getting up, but it didn't sound like they were leaving.

"Hai. Shouldn't you be getting back to classes as well?" Tadase questioned.

"No, I think that I'm going to stay and help out these two." He finally let go of my shoulder, and I guessed that he was giving Tadase and the others some gesture because I could hear them finally starting to move.

The sounds of everyones shuffling feet resonated through the green-house. I kept my head down and wandered to the chairs surrounding our table, plopping down miserably and avoiding any eye-contact as the guardians left for class.

When the sound of foot-steps finally faded away, I looked up to see Kuukai looking at me sternly with his arms crossed and Rikka with her chin in the palms of her hands and her elbows up on the table.

Kuukai stated. "We need to talk." Not a question. An order.

I scowled. That was the last thing I really wanted to do right now. "I told you all I know, what the hell else is there to talk about?" I spat, not even bothering censoring out the cuss words for Rikka's sake. It's not that I was mad at him or Rikka. It was just the gravity of the situation. Rikka gave a small, sad smile.

"Your emotional state." She stated, giving me a sympathetic look. I looked away stubbornly.

"What's there to say?" I growled. Rhythm sat on my shoulder, sulking.

"New Jack, we heard you earlier." Kuukai spoke, his voice dead serious. I chewed on my lip, gripping at the glass table. "We know you love the queen."

I muttered. "I wasn't hiding it."

A sigh. "Fujisaki, I know that we are probably the absolute _last_ people you'd come to to talk about this, but you have to listen." Numb, I nodded. For the moment, it was all I could manage. There was no denying that if the occassion had arisen, I'd expected some different people to confront me. "Mashiro is lost out there, and you being angry at her mother and father won't do anything." _It dulled the pain_, I added helplessly in my head. That wasn't true, but I wanted it to be.

"We're worried for you, Nagi-senpai." Rikka piped up. I couldn't help but flinch. Smart idea, guardians, get the youngest to show her concern for you. "Rima-senpai...her chara probably came to you for a specific reason, not just by chance." I snapped my head back to them, my hair almost flinging rhythm off my shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" I barked. KusuKusu wanted me for a specific reason? Rikka glanced at the auburn-haired boy beside her and he nodded to her, willing her to continue.

She took in a breath and turned back to me. "Well, while you were gone, all of us went over what you told us a couple more times. And with this new egg, we think that its obvious now..." I don't, Rikka. I had no idea what she was talking about. She gave a little smile at me.

"Nagi-sempai? Has Rima ever lied to you?" She asked out of the blue, sounding so innocent. I was taken aback by the sudden question.

"Well, she's tried, but I can always see through the lies. So she stopped at one point." I responded, surprised. She nodded at my answer. What was she getting at?

"We've come to the conclusion that...well..." Rikka was wringing her jacket, and Kuukai apparently took it as a sign to continue.

"You understand Rima best. And without you, we might not be able to purify KusuKusu."

**Aquatwin: Ok, so most of this chapter was written when I was ok(yes, I write artists comments AFTER most of the chapter is finished)...**

_**But recently, one of my friends has a friend who almost killed himself.**_

_**I know, I'm writing about how someone is contemplating it and everything, but I have to say this:**_

_**Doing this crap is stupid (and if I say crap as myself and not as a character, trust me, I'm serious). Killing yourself is nothing but selfish. It's saying that you care more about your pain then the ones around you. And even if they didn't know it, a lot are affected by it, there are more people who care for you then you're aware. So if you know somone who is depressed and at such a low point that they want to die or cut themselves, don't, I repeat, DON'T just walk by and act like you never knew. Be kind to them, help them, get help, be their FRIENDS. Because no life is worth throwing away.**_

**I'm sorry for going all emotional on you, but I just thought I should try and get some sort of word out. Please, don't just take what I said lightly, despite it sounding like a lecture. Please...**

**Rima: That's a wrap. She's too hyped to say that**

**Crystal: Read and Review!**


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